


Master and Its Meanings

by FlitShadowflame



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: (hinted) - Freeform, Culture Shock, Gen, Language Barrier, Slavery, Tatooine Slave Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24279520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlitShadowflame/pseuds/FlitShadowflame
Summary: Recently knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi has an overdue conversation with his new padawan.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 22
Kudos: 649





	Master and Its Meanings

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Shape-Changer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4678835) by [Fialleril](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fialleril/pseuds/Fialleril). 



> Beta'd by the helpful [RubiniaChangeMadness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeMadnessRubinia/pseuds/RubiniaChangeMadness)
> 
> Hints of Tatooine Slave Culture are all inspired/informed by Fialleril's wonderful works on the same, though I didn't feel I was borrowing enough to merit asking permission? Hopefully that's okay.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was raised in the Jedi Temple, but that was not all he had seen or known. He had met dozens, maybe over a hundred different cultures in his travels as a padawan. He had been kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and, yes, enslaved.

Sometimes, it takes one to know one. He saw the bright spark of Anakin’s Force-signature dim the first time he said “yes, Master” to Qui-Gon and almost understood why. It took two repetitions before he was certain: even if Anakin Skywalker was free now, he had been raised under Masters who were untouchable, who were always right and always ready to punish.

It had been a very long time since Obi-Wan was at the mercy of that kind of Master. At least...he had believed so. But Master Qui-Gon did not always welcome questions, certainly never invited dissension, and though his punishments were rarely painful they often carried a certain degree of humiliation not out of place with a slaver’s mentality.

So Obi-Wan did not say anything, yet. It was one thing to share a past, or to explain away a fear. It was another to give false hope to a boy who had been tossed about by the winds of fate his whole life, who had never had control or choice over anything serious.

In fact, it was not until after Qui-Gon’s death that he felt secure in having this conversation.

“Anakin, the Council has agreed to allow me to train you. If that is still your desire, I would like to explain more about what it means to be a Jedi,” he began.

“Yes, Master?”

Obi-Wan did not flinch as though struck, though he did go still and hesitate. Had he waited too long? He must try, nonetheless.

“Anakin, I must ask you first if you understand what - what Qui-Gon did, when he took you from Tatooine.”

“Master Qui-Gon won me at a pod-race,” Anakin said patiently, passively.

“My Master had a tendency to act without thinking, and I think he failed to explain a few things to you.” Obi-Wan sighed. “Jedi do not own slaves, Anakin. We don’t own much, to tell you the truth; we’re a religious order that eschews material wealth.”

“Es...chews?”

“It means we don’t seek it out. My point is, while Qui-Gon likely never explained this...you are not a slave anymore, Anakin. You are free. That means you can choose - to remain with the Jedi, or to seek out a new life in some other vocation. I’ve been asked about your welfare by Queen Amidala and several of the royal pilots. You have options available to you beyond becoming a Jedi Knight.”

Anakin considered this. “If I’m free to choose...but I think I’m _meant_ to be a Jedi.”

“And maybe you are. But I’m getting a little off-topic. I wanted to tell you what ‘master’ means to you, to Tatooine, is not what it means to the Jedi order. What languages do you know, other than Basic?”

“Huttese and Bocce and Binary.”

None of these languages made great examples for his purposes, nor were they languages he was terribly familiar with. Kark. “That’s remarkable,” he said instead. “Binary probably doesn’t have many adjectives, does it?”

“What’s an adjective?”

“A word that describes another word, like ‘blue’ can describe ‘milk’ so you know what kind it is.”

“Oh. No, most of Binary’s ad-jec-tives boil down to ‘good’ and ‘not-good.’”

That, he could work with. “So what’s ‘good’ for one droid could be ‘not-good’ for another,” he said leadingly. “The word ‘master’ has different meanings in different languages or cultures. To Jedi, it means something like ‘teacher-parent.’ To Tatooine’s commoners, a master is someone who hurts others.”

“So...you don’t mean I’m a slave, when you talk about ‘masters…?’”

“No, Anakin. I...spent a few weeks as a slave once. It was not an experience I would ever inflict on any other sentient.”

Anakin’s eyes went wide. “You just said Jedi don’t own slaves!”

“I was abducted on a mission.” Obi-Wan touched his neck, remembering the weight of the Force-inhibitor. “It took - it took Qui-Gon several weeks to find me, because our Force-connection was blocked by the slavers.”

“Oh...you’re a redhead. Gardulla had a couple redheads,” Anakin nodded. “And you’re pretty, I bet that didn’t help. One of Gardulla’s redheads was ugly as a Dug.”

Obi-Wan blushed. “I guess I don’t have to explain _why_ I was abducted,” he chuckled. “I’m trying to explain...Qui-Gon was never a slave. He didn’t understand what it really does to a person, how it can impact them, even years after gaining freedom. I still don’t like small rooms, and if I never hear an electrowhip again it’ll be too soon. But Anakin, that was a few weeks. I can’t imagine how difficult this change is for you. I want you to know I will happily answer your questions, no matter how scared you are. And I won’t punish you for asking them. I want you to know that no master in the Jedi Order worth a grain of _sand_ will cause you pointless pain for a lesson. They will have you run laps, or practice katas, or write lines or essays. They will have you do tasks you dislike, maybe - cleaning, or watching the younglings in the Creche, or gardening. But they will not _hurt_ you to prove a point or reprimand you. And Anakin? If anyone, anyone at all, tries to punish you that way? I want you to find me and tell me, because that’s a person I don’t want you near.”

“Any question?” Anakin asked slyly.

“It is my duty as your teacher to provide you with explanations or the tools to learn on your own.”

“Can...can I call you ‘Teacher’ instead of Master?”

“Of course, Anakin. I will never _make_ you use a term that means something so abhorrent as ‘master.’ For Jedi, it’s a term of respect, like - like calling an elder ‘grandmother’ when they aren’t related but you want to show fondness. Some will try to tell you that you are being disrespectful. I want you to tell them they should take that up with me.” He paused. “The Jedi Masters on the Council will also answer to ‘Councillor’ or ‘Jedi Councillor,’ just so you know. Most Jedi my age are considered ‘Knights’ until they take on a padawan like you. If it helps, you can also call the other masters ‘Jedi Master’ like outsiders do. To remind yourself that we are not slavers.”

“If you were a slave, I could tell you things,” Anakin said slowly. “Things I can’t tell freeborns. It’s different if you weren’t a slave on _Tatooine_ , but I think you - you might need to know. It could save your life...”


End file.
